May 6, 2020

Toll Romania. Romania's president Klaus Iohannis today holds new meeting to discuss the management of the Covid-19 pandemic with prime minister Ludovic Orban and other cabinet members. Meanwhile, more people infected with the novel coronavirus have died, taking the death toll to 858. The number of confirmed cases passes 14,100. Some 5,800 people have recovered. Among the Romanians living abroad, more than 2,400 are confirmed to have caught the virus, most of them in Italy and Spain, while 96 have died, mostly in the UK. 
 

Toll world. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases passes 3.7 million worldwide, while the death toll nears 260,000, and 1.25 million people have recovered, according to measurements by ArcGIS and Worldometer. The United States is the worst hit country, with over 2,300 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll to 71,022, and the highest number of confirmed cases, at over 1.2 million. The UK, with over 29,000 deaths is now the worst hit country in Europe, followed by Italy, Spain and France. Elsewhere, high schools in Hubei, the Chinese province that was the epicentre of the pandemic, have reopened for final-year students. In South Korea, which in February was the second worst hit country in the world after China, employees went back to work in offices, and museums and libraries have reopened.

EU-Western Balkans. President Klaus Iohannis is today taking part in a video conference of the EU and Western Balkan leaders discussing common challenges. The European Commission earlier announced financial support for the citizens of the Western Balkans of over 3.3 billion euros from the European Union and the European Investment Bank. This package is intended to cover some of the most immediate needs relating to healthcare and humanitarian assistance caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and contribute to economic and social recovery.

Assistance. The Romanian prime minister Ludovic Orban today attended the departure of a convoy of 20 trucks full of medical equipment as part of aid provided by Romania to the Republic of Moldova, a neighbouring state with a majority Romanian speaking population, to help it fight the Covid-19 epidemic. Last week, the government in Bucharest decided to grant Moldova humanitarian aid worth 16.5 million lei in the form of medical equipment and medicines. Romania has also sent a team of 52 doctors and nurses who will be working in hospitals in Moldova treating patients infected with the novel coronavirus.

Motion. The Social Democratic Party, the biggest party in opposition in Romania, on Wednesday filed a simple no-confidence motion against the finance minister of the Liberal cabinet, Florin Citu asking that he should be sacked immediately. The Social Democratic Party alleges, among others, that the website created by the finance ministry for small and medium sized enterprises who apply for loans has only been accessed by a single company. We recall that the website in question crashed soon after it was launched but was later relaunched and is now working.

Retail sales. Retail sales, which are considered a good indicator of the dynamics of private consumption, grew in Romania in March by 5% compared with February, and by 9.4% in the first three months of the year compared with last year, according to preliminary statistical data published on Wednesday by the National Institute for Statistics. The highest increase in March was recorded by food products, with 12.3%. Sales of car fuel in specialised shops dropped by 8.3% and those of non-food products by 1.6%. The measurements conducted by the Institute for Statistics reflect the impact of the Covid-19 crisis and of the measures taken by the authorities after the declaration of the state of emergency beginning on 16th of March. (CM)